Bambi and the Duke

Vivian was given one of the dresses which Mrs Carmichael used to keep for the female guests if they ever required it and each dress was beautiful than the next one. When the clothes were presented by the housekeeper himself as the guest rooms were usually locked unless it needed cleaning, she had been awestruck by seeing the dresses.

Made of rich fabric and material, Vivian decided to go with the one which was beige in colour, it was one of the sober ones that would not stand out too much in the crowd that is if there were going to a soiree. Leonard hadn’t told her where they were going and it was still a mystery which only made the butterflies in her stomach double up.

With her hair half tied into a bun and the other section of her hair free-flowing, she looked at the small mirror which was placed at the window that Martha had got her when she had reached the age of twelve as a present. Brushing her hair another time and settling one side of her open hair to the front she stepped away from the mirror.

As she left her room, she couldn’t help but worry if she had taken more time in getting ready and had made Leo wait for her. On her way, the maids didn’t hide their surprise when they passed by her. It wasn’t every day a maid got to dress in rich clothes, forget wearing them, they weren’t even allowed to touch it such was the gap that was created between the servants and the high-class society.

Looking around with her head twisting left and right she searched for Leonard until she almost tripped if it weren’t for someone catching hold of her.

”Pardon me,” she apologized to the man. Her eyes travelled up from the grey suit, she came to realize it was none other Leonard’s friend, Maximillian Gibbs. The colour of his clothes matched his grey hair, his turquoise eyes staring at her with curiosity. She could swear he wasn’t here a second ago before she had tripped herself.

”My my, don’t you look pretty,” he commented taking a look at her from top to bottom which made her extremely uncomfortable after he let go of her.

”Good evening, Mr Gibbs,” Vivian bowed her, taking a couple of steps away from him to maintain a distance between them.

There had been times when Vivian’s thoughts wandered on the choices of people Leonard mingled with. It wasn’t something she judged about but it was quite questionable that a quiet person like Leonard would have extreme characteristic friends who were close to him. First, there was the Lord, then there was this man who drove people away and she pegged that Maximillian might already know the effect he held on the people around him. His eyes were what caught people off guard.

Was there a reason why his eye colour was different than the rest when he was a pureblooded vampire?

Then she thought, you could never choose to pick people to be your friends, lovers, or blood family. Those were the things that just happened without a person’s control. The world she lived in, most of the pureblooded creatures were like the Lord and Mr Gibbs. Very few could be counted as good people when it came to the vampires and the good ones were always shunned.

The more she thought about it, the more lost she looked in appearance as Mr Gibbs stared at her dauntingly.

”Master Leonard must be here soon,” she informed him to receive no particular response from him, ”Would you like to take a seat in the drawing room and have something to drink?” one side of his lips quirked up as she said this.

”Have you ever been sucked on...” Maximillian asked her and she gulped knowing he was hinting on her giving her blood but the man had asked the question in all ways as the question gave out many possibilities for an answer.

”No.”

Maximillian Gibbs caught her gulping which only widened the smile on his lips like a devil that was waiting for its prey to trip into an agreement.

”Allow me then. It would surely be a waste to not try your blood.”

”I don’t think I would suit your taste, Sir. Maybe if you tell me what you would like to drink we could arrange for it during your next visit,” Vivian answered calming her nerves as she spoke to the pureblooded vampire.

Maximillian stood there in place, staring at her with the smile plastered on his face before hearing Leonard’s voice not far behind them.

”Vivian’s off-limits, Maximillian. You can have anyone in this mansion but her,” Leonard came to stand next to her, keeping his eyes on Mr Gibbs until he received a confirmation of nod from the man.

Leonard then turned to look at Vivian, his eyes falling towards her neck and face before he spoke to her, ”Can you please fetch Jan for me?” nodding her head with a yes, she went to find the housekeeper.

”I didn’t know you were getting her to Wilford’s mansion,” said Maximillian looking at the girl disappear behind the white walls.

”She isn’t.”

”No?” his friend asked surprised, ”Why did you get her dolled up then?”

”I won’t be attending the soiree taking place at Wilford’s mansion today. I don’t like the man nor his doings,” stated Leonard. It wasn’t that he minded people’s company but there was a limit where he could only handle that much amount of nonsense before he would do something irreversible.

Duke Wilford was a man who was in charge of the slave establishment, an establishment where men, women and children were sold for vampires as well as humans if the money was paid well.

Growing up in a society which welcomed slavery with open arms, he wasn’t against it. It was the unethical events and actions that took place in Wilford’s mansion which he didn’t like. The slaves were put up as a display of sexual objects for his guests but that was not all. There had been incidents which he found unethical in his book and that was the last place he would take Vivian too.

As much as he desired her and wanted to have her, it didn’t mean he would sully her innocence in a place which wasn’t right.

”For a pureblooded, you turned out to be nice in a few things,” Maxmillian smiled wickedly, ”Not all but just a few things. Well, I thought you would be accompanying me on my way there. Where are you planning to take the girl?”

”Is that all you came here for?” Leonard didn’t bother to answer his friend’s question.

”Yes. I will see you tomorrow then,” Maximillian readied himself to leave before he was stopped by Leonard.

”Max...” Leonard held a sullen expression on his face and he didn’t need to explain why to Maximillian.

”I was joking at that time.”

”I hope it stays that way,” Leonard’s tone was serious.

”Of course,” Maximillian smiled.

As Maximillian stepped out of the mansion, he couldn’t help but smile, the wicked smile that usually adorned his thin lips like a serpent. Since a young age, he knew that Leonard had pinned his interest on the maid. Though the Duke rarely showed his feelings in front of others, he could tell that the girl meant a lot to him.

It was good to test him once in a while, thought Maximillian getting on his horse. The first time he had tested Leonard when they were little boys it had resulted in both of them getting into a physical fight and Leonard had given him more bruises than he had received in his entire life.

It was his temper, the flame of anger which Leo had learnt to keep under wraps that had intrigued him. Most of the boys of his age were either pompous from where they came from in regard to their old bloodline or it was their cunningness that stood out and it was rare to find someone like Leonard in midst of them. But then, the Carmichael’s were that sort of people which also included the other related families like the Easton and Meyers.

The only difference being, Leonard’s cousin, Rhys put up a smile to get along with the society while Leonard was the kind of person who would outright say things if someone pushed him in the wrong direction.